Cleaning access and braking mechanism for open end spinning machines

ABSTRACT

A supply roller and a sliver resolving device fed by such roller can be moved relatively apart for exposing such parts for removing accumulations of material from them. Such relative movement effects clamping of the sliver being fed to the supply roller. If the supply roller is mounted on a fixed shaft common to several spinning stations, the fiber resolving device housing for a single station may be swung away from the roller and such housing movement automatically brakes the resolving device. The spinning chamber cover may be mounted on the housing to swing with it and simultaneously disengage the drive for and brake the spinning chamber drive shaft.

United States Patent Schumann et al.

CLEANING ACCESS AND BRAKING MECHANISM FOR OPEN END SPINNING MACHINES lnventors: Fritz Schumann, lngolstadt; I-Ians Landwehrkamp, Gerolfing; Kurt Veit, lngolstadt, all of Germany Schubert & Salzer Maschinenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft, Ingolstadt, Germany Filed: Jan. 2, 1973 Appl. No.: 320,198

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. 7, 1972 Germany 2200686 US. Cl. 57/56; 57/5895 Int. Cl. D0111 11/00; DOlh l/12 Field of Search .,57/58.8958.95, 56

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Doudlebsky et al. 57/5895 Bucil et al 57/5895 [451 May20, 1975 3,455,097 7/1969 Rajnoba et al 57/5895 3,511,045 5/1970 Bures et a1 57/5895 X 3,648,450 3/1972 Procbazka et al. 57/5895 X 3,695,021 10/1972 Ormerod et al. 57/5891 3,695,022 10/1972 Landwekrkamp 3,728,853 4/1973 Schiltknecht 57/5895 Primary Examiner-.lohn W. Huckert Assistant ExaminerCharles Gorenstein Attorney, Agent, or Firm-R0bert W. Beach; Ms. R. M. Van Winkle [57] ABSTRACT A supply roller and a sliver resolving device fed by such roller can be moved relatively apart for exposing such parts for removing accumulations of material from them. Such relative movement effects clamping of the sliver being fed to the supply roller. 1f the supply roller is mounted on a fixed shaft common to several spinning stations, the fiber resolving device housing for a single station may be swung away from the roller and such housing movement automatically brakes the resolving device. The spinning chamber cover may be mounted on the housing to swing with it and simultaneously disengage the drive for and brake the spinning chamber drive shaft.

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures CLEANING ACCESS AND BRAKING MECHANISM FOR OPEN END SPINNING MACHINES The present invention relates to mechanism for providing cleaning access to a spinning chamber and a sliver intake device including a supply roller and a cooperating pressure member.

Fiber intake and resolving devices are subject to accumulation of fibers or winding of sliver on the supply rollers, especially at high-speed operation. Apparatus previously proposed for avoiding this problem include provision of a pressure member in the form of a pan of felt or similar material cooperating with the fiber supply roller (DT'OS 1.510.624). Alternatively, the supply roller is mounted closely adjacent to the fiber resolving device and the pressure member cooperating with the supply roller is provided with a condenser for supplying a sliver (DT-OS 1.535.006). Such apparatus, however, have not prevented satisfactorily fiber accumulation or sliver winding. Consequently, it is necessary to provide access to the fiber intake apparatus and the fiber resolving device periodically for cleaning. One proposal has been to provide a split housing for the fiber supply and spinner chamber housing so that the housing can be separated along a plane passing through the axis of the spinning chamber (DT-OS l.9l4.83l). Such devices, however, require at least partial dismantling of the housing in order to clean the intake and resolving rollers.

It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide an open end spinning station which can be stopped independently of other spinning stations of a spinning machine and to construct the spinning device so that the sliver supply roller, which is most vulnerable to fiber accumulation, can be cleaned without dismantling the housing.

The foregoing object can be accomplished by mounting the supply roller of the sliver intake device and its cooperating pressure member in a manner by which these cooperating parts can be separated readily, one of these cooperating elements being mounted in a common housing with the fiber resolving device. The other cooperating member is mounted outside of such housing. The housing for the fiber resolving device must, of course, include an opening through which sliver is fed to it from the intake device so that separation of the cooperating intake members is effected in a manner which exposes such opening to provide cleaning access to the resolving device also.

In one form of the present invention, the supply roller is mounted on a stationary shaft driving the supply roller for several spinning stations; and the intake pressure member and the fiber resolving device are mounted in a housing which is movable relative to the supply roller. The apparatus is therefore substantially simplified and requires minimum modification of conventional spinning machines. To further simplify the construction, the movable housing may be mounted to swing about the axis of the drive shaft for the fiber resolving device, which drive shaft is common to a series of spinning stations. In the latter instance, the housing can be mounted relative to the resolving device drive shaft in a manner such that the entire housing can be moved radially away from the drive shaft; and a substitute housing can be quickly mounted in its place. 4

In order also to provide access to the fiber resolving device and to avoid any danger of accident when the housing is swung away from the supply roller, a brake operable by swinging of the housing arrests the highspeed rotation of the fiber resolving device automatically. Similarly, the cover for the spinning chamber may be swingable conjointly with the housing for the fiber resolving device to provide cleaning access to the spinning chamber, an automatic brake for the spinning chamber also being provided for actuation when the housing is swung from the operating position. Preferably the housing can be swung into one of two different service positions in which movement into the first position effects braking of the spinning chamber and exposes its interior for cleaning. Further movement into the second service position actuates the brake for the resolving device and provides maximum access to that mechanism. The housing can be held in its working position or in either of its two service positions by snapengageable detent means.

In this preferred form of the invention, the sliver can be clamped by an electromagnetically operable clamp member engageable with the pressure member of the intake device. The electromagnet is actuatable by a plug connection manually connected to a power supply when the station is to be serviced. A dirt collection chamber for receiving dirt from the resolving device is connected to a suction source for evacuating dirt from the chamber by a tube slidably removable from the chamber evacuating opening so that such tube can be readily removed and replaced, respectively, when the housing is to be removed from its place. A drive cam for opening a closure lever between the dirt collection chamber and the resolving device is located outside the housing and the lever can swing with the housing relative to the drive cam. Such construction permits movement of the resolving device housing without interfering with or stopping any of the drive members customarily provided common to a series of spinning stations.

In another form of the present invention, the fiber resolving device housing may be stationarily mounted, in which case the supply roller is mounted outside of the housing, but is enclosed by a quick-release cover removably carried on the housing to provide easy access to the supply roller and the fiber resolving device. If desired, the pressure member for the supply roller can be eliminated by providing a housing surface having an arcuate portion closely adjacent to the periphery of the supply roller and a quick release cover attachable to the housing having a complemental arcuate surface so that the roller is enclosed by such complemental housing and cover parts, but is readily accessible by separation of these parts.

FIG. I is a diagrammatic side elevation of a spinning station including one form of cleaning access construction according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic section through a swingable housing for a fiber resolving device showing a modified form of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a detail of spinning chamber braking mechanism shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross section through a further modification of the present invention.

The present invention can be used advantageously in connection with various open end spinning devices. For example, the spinning chamber may be a turbine of the type shown in DT-AS 1.299.543, rotating or fixed spinning funnels such as disclosed in CS-PS 87.947 or Japanese patent application 6221/66, electrostatic spinning devices such as shown in FR 1.442.699 or DT-OS 1.922.876 or in chambers in which fibers entrained in a fluid medium are caught by a freely rotating thread end as described in US. Pat. No. 2,911,783. In all of these types of open end spinning devices, a sliver 16 is resolved by a fiber resolving device 1 into individual fibers, which fibers are conducted to the spinning chamber. A spinning chamber 18, shown in phantom in FIG. 2, is located in a housing 2 and is driven in a conventional manner such as by a tangential belt 58 engageable with spinning chamber shaft 27. Housing 2 is closed by a cover 20 which carries a fiber supply tube 21 through which fibers are conducted from the resolving device 1 to the spinning chamber. Such cover also includes a thread drawoff tube 22 through which thread 23 is drawn by drawoff rollers 24 past a thread monitoring device 25.

A housing for the fiber resolving device 1 and spinning chamber housing 2 are supported on the machine frame member 26. The fiber resolving device can be driven by direct connection with a power drive or can be driven by a countershaft. In FIG. 1, for example, the drive device includes a drive shaft 11 common to several spinning stations carrying a drive wheel 12 for each spinning station. An endless belt 14 extending between a belt-tensioning pulley 13 and a pulley on the shaft of the fiber resolving roller is driven by drive wheel 12.

The sliver intake device which feeds the fiber resolving device 1 includes a driven supply roller 3 and a cooperating pressure member shown as a pressure roller 30 in FIG. 1. The supply roller 3 is mounted on the free end of a cantilever arm 32 swingable about the supply roller drive shaft 33. Supply roller 3 and its drive shaft 33 are connected by a drive belt 36. Arm 32 is swingable between a position in which roller 3 is operatively located closely adjacent to the fiber resolving device shown in full lines in FIG. 1 and a servicing position 3' shown in broken lines in that figure. The arm can be held in its limit positions by snap-engageable detent means or by a hydraulic jack 35.

The pressure roller 30 is mounted on the housing 10 by'a fork 31 swingable about pivot 34. The pressure roller is normally pressed against the supply roller 3 by a compression spring 37 for firm engagement with the sliver l6 fed between such rollers. When the supply roller 3 is swung out of engagement with roller 30 by arm 32, spring 37 presses roller 30 upward against a sliverclamping member 4 so that the sliver 16 is clamped between roller 30 and member 4 to prevent further sliver infeed. Supply roller 3 can be swung through a sufficient arc away from housing 10 so that it is easily accessible for service and cleaning. By movement of the supply roller away from the housing, the infeed opening 17 to the resolving device 1, which is normally covered by the supply roller, is exposed so that the resolving device can be inspected and cleaned, if necessary.

The present invention can be modified for use with spinning machines having a simplified drive for the supply roller. In such machines the supply roller for each spinning station is carried stationarily outside the housing. Preferably, the supply roller is carried on a continuous drive shaft carrying such rollers for several spinning stations. Such an arrangement is more economical and eliminates the need for individual drives and transfer elements at each spinning station. In this instance the pressure member cooperating with the supply roller and the fiber resolving device are movable conjointly toward and away from the stationary supply roller. A construction for this purpose is shown in FIG. 2.

The supply roller 39 constitutes a continuous driven roller spanning a series of spinning stations. The pressure member 42 is a leaf made of spring steel. Leaf spring 42 and sliver clamping member 43 are carried on a common pivot rod 44 mounted on housing 5 for the fiber resolving device 1. The housing 5 can be mounted in various ways for movement relative to the supply roller 39, such as by being carried on tracks. The shape of the housing can be modified to accommodate particular mounting means and to provide adequate clearance in its inoperative position to provide cleaning access to the supply roller and, preferably, also to the resolving device. The preferred form of mounting for housing 5 is shown in FIG. 2 in which the housing is swingable about an axis, which swinging axis is shown to be the drive shaft 11 for the fiber resolving device 1. This drive shaft is common to several spinning stations. Such construction eliminates the need for an additional shaft and, as will be seen, simplifies the construction of automatic braking mechanism for the resolving device. Swinging of housing 5 downward about shaft 11 separates the housing and pressure member 42 from roller 39 so that the roller can be easily cleaned. The clamping member 43 is swingable about pivot rod 44 relative to pressure member 42 for clamping sliver between these members. Such swinging is effected by a spring and by an electromagnet 40 which can be actuated by connection of plug 45 with a control circuit having a power source (not shown) and the thread monitoring device 25.

A bracket 50' carried by housing 2 supports a brake 50 which is engageable with the drive pulley 15 on the fiber resolving device 1 to quickly stop rotation of its high-speed roller when the housing 5 is in its swung position. Such automatic brake mechanism eliminates the danger of accidental injury to servicing personnel. In addition to or instead of brake 50, a stop 51 projecting downward from housing 2 may engage tensioning roller 13 to overcome its belt-tensioning function when the housing is swung downward, causing such tensioning roller to orbit about drive shaft 11. Consequently, belt 14 is slackened to disengage or at least slip relative to drive disk 12. Drive belt 14 will be positively stopped by being clamped between roller 13 and stop 51 in the fully swung position of the housing so that the drive for resolving device 1 is interrupted. The additional use of brake 50 will more quickly arrest the inertial rotation of the resolving roller and reduce wear on belt 14 by relative rotation of pulley 15.

It is desirable to service the spinning chamber at the same time the supply roller is cleaned and serviced. For this purpose, additional brake mechanism for the spinning chamber is supplied for automatic actuation by swinging of housing 5 into its inoperative position. Such brake is shown in phantom in FIG. 2, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of this brake. The brake includes a forked member 52 carrying an idler roller 57 between its flanges, which fork and roller are located adjacent to, but spaced from, a side of the shaft 27 of spinning chamber 18. Such fork is swingable about a pivot 38 mounted in housing 2, a tension spring 53 normally holding fork 52 in an inclined position rotated clockwise from the upright position shown in FIG. 3. A brake block 54 projects from fork 52 which is engageable with shaft 27. Such brake block can be readily adapted for use with other types of spinning chambers. For example, it could project from the fork in a manner to directly engage the wall of the spinning chamber; or, if the spinning chamber is stationary, but is coupled with a rotating twisting element, the brake would engage such twisting element.

The brake is actuated by a Bowden wire 55 extending through the wall of housing 2 past guides 56 and attached to housing 5. The other end of wire 55 is attached to one end of link 61, the other end of which link is attached to fork 52. When housing 5 is swung downward, wire 55 is drawn to the right as seen in FIG. 2, and pulls downward on link 61 to swing fork 52 about pivot 38 in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 3 to swing the idler roller 57 into engagement with a stretch of drive belt 58 to lift such belt from its normal driving engagement with shaft 27. Simultaneously, brake block 54 engages shaft 27 to quickly arrest its inertial rotation. The cover can then be opened for access to the spinning chamber 18. It is preferred that cover 20 be rigidly connected to housing 5 so that the cover will open as the housing is swung downward to provide automatic access to the spinning chamber. The housing 5 is held in its upper operative position by a snap-engageable latch 28 carried on housing 2 and normally latched over the upper edge of cover 20. t

The present invention can be further modified to provide an operating position I represented by the full-line position of cover 20 in FIG. 2and two service positions II and III indicated by broken-line representations of the cover 20 swung clockwise about the pivot axis defined by shaft ll. Detent means may be provided to hold the cover 20 and housing 5 in a selected one of the three alternative positions. For this purpose a U-shaped collar 59 supported from housing 5 encircles shaft 11 and has three bores spaced circumferentially equidistantly from the axis of shaft ll, in which bores are carried spring-loaded detent balls 60. Complemental ballreceiving sockets are provided in a flange of bracket 6 carried on the machine frame and encircling shaft 11. As indicated, each of the balls 60 represent one of the positions I, II or III of the housing 5 and cover 20 and such balls with the cooperating flange sockets on bracket 6 provide snap-engageable detents for each of the three positions.

In the operative position I, the spinning chamber 18 and the fiber resolving device 1 are connected to their respective drives 27, 58 and 12, 13, 14. In service position II, brake block 54 arrests rotation of shaft 27 so that only the spinning chamber drive is interrupted, cover 20 being opened sufficiently for inspection and cleaning of the spinning chamber. Simultaneously, the thread 23 being withdrawn from the spinning chamber will slacken, and such slackening will be sensed by thread monitoring device 25 shown in FIG. 1. Such thread monitoring device, by a control circuitry not shown, energizes electromagnet 40 to actuate clamp 43 to interrupt the supply of sliver to the fiber resolving device 1.

In service position III, the belt-tensioning roller 13 is engaged by stop 51 and/or the brake 50 engages the shaft of the fiber resolving device 1 so that the latter device is stopped and is accessible for servicel The excessive tension on link 61 by pulling of the Bowden wire 55 is compensated by making link 61 resilient which for this propose is shown in the form of a leaf made of spring steel.

Such an automatic brake mechanism as described hereinbefore is also advantageous in connection with a housing which instead of being moved by swinging about an axis is moved along tracks in any desired shape.

A dirt exclusion device can be included in housing 5 for removing dirt separated from the fibers in the resolving device. Such a device is not part of the present invention and includes an opening 7 in the housing 5 between the fiber resolving roller 1 and a dirt collection chamber 70. The collection chamber is connected to a suction source for withdrawing dirt from the chamber by a removable tube 71 slidable over a collar on housing 5 encircling a cleanout opening to the collection chamber 70. A closure member 73 for opening 7 is connected through pivot 74 and lever arm 75 to a cam 77 carried on shaft 78 for swinging of member 73 to allow opening 7 to be opened and closed according to the material to be spun and according to whether dirt is to be pneumatically removed from chamber or not. An opening 72 vents the chamber 70 to atmosphere so that a small air current in the direction of the spinning chamber is created by the subatmospheric pressure in the spinning chamber to reduce the likelihood that the less dense fibers will also drop into the dirt collection chamber 70.

Again, it is common for cam shaft 78 to be a continuous shaft serving several spinning stations. Because lever arm is located outside the housing 5 and is pivotally connected at 74 to closure member 73, this mechanism will not interfere with rotation of housing 5 into either of its service positions. If suction tube 71 is flexible, it need not be removed, but can be readily slipped off its cooperating collar on housing 5, if desired. It will be seen that the construction shown in FIG. 2 is extremely advantageous when supply roller shaft 39, resolving device drive shaft 11, and cam shaft 78, as well as drive belt 58 for the spinning chamber are continuous serving serveral spinning stations.

As mentioned above, housing 5 includes a U-shaped collar 59, the arcuate portion'of which is arranged concentrically around shaft 11. A pair of brackets 6 carried by the machine frame and spaced axially of shaft 11 embrace opposite sides of collar 59.'The collar is not mounted directly on shaft 11, but is held in place by a cover plate 63 spanning the free ends of the collar legs and resting on a bushing 62 supported by brackets 6 and concentrically enclosing shaft 11. Cover 63 can be released from one leg of collar 59 and rotated by a pivot connection to the other leg so that the entire housing 5 can be removed by lowering the housing beneath the bushing 62 and pulling the housing to the right as seen in FIG. 2 toward the front of the machine. It will be seen, therefore, that the entire housing can be quickly replaced by a substitute housing when extensive servicing is required without losing production by the spinning station.

To enclose the supply roller 39, an auxiliary cover 46 may be provided which is quickly removable by providing, for example, a snap connection, a plug connection, or, as shown, a screw and wing nut connection 47 with housing 5.

Another example of the scope of modification within the purview of the present invention is shown in FIG. 4. Instead of the conventional grooved supply roller 3,

a needle roller 8 may be used to supply sliver to the resolving device I. Such a needle roller may be mounted on a shaft 80 common to a series of spinning stations. Such rollers may be connected for driving engagement with shaft 80 by a clutch 81 so that individual rollers can be readily stopped. A cover 82 having a groove or notch 83 in its lower edge to define a sliver intake opening, which may be closed by an angle 82', encircles the upper portion of roller 8. Instead of a groove or notch 83 and angle'82' there can also be provided a bore in cover 82. Opposite sides of cover 82, 82' are connected to housing by latches 84 which may be swingable leaves for quick removal. In this construction, no pressure member is required because the needles of roller 8 positively engage the sliver and the concentric wall 85 of housing 5 cooperates to prevent the sliver from becoming disengaged from the lower portion of the roller. Again, the resolving device 1 is readily accessible for cleaning because the cover 82 can be removed and roller 8 disengaged from its drive by clutch 81, and housing 5 with wall 85 can be swung away from roller 8 to expose opening 17 to the resolving device.

We claim:

1. An open end spinning machine having a spinning station including a spinning chamber, comprising a sliver intake device having a supply roller and a cooperating pressure member, means mounting said supply roller in a fixed position, a fiber resolving device, a housing for mounting said pressure member and said fiber resolving device, and means for moving said housing toward and away from said supply roller.

2. The machine defined in claim 1 having a plurality of spinning stations, in which each spinning station includes a supply roller, the supply roller mounting means being a shaft carrying a plurality of such supply rollers.

3. The machine defined in claim 2, in which each spinning station further includes a dirt collecting chamber communicable with said fiber resolving device, closure means for interrupting communication between said fiber resolving device and said dirt collection chamber, the housing for the fiber resolving device also housing the dirt collecting chamber and the closure member, cam means for actuating said closure means,

a drive shaft extending through all of the spinning stations for driving said fiber resolving device, and a cam shaft extending through all of the spinning stations for driving said cam means, the housing being movable relative to the supply roller drive shaft, said fiber resolving device drive shaft and said cam shaft.

4. The machine defined in claim 1 having a plurality 'of spinning stations, each spinning station including a housing for mounting said fiber resolving device and said pressure member, drive shaft means operable to drive a plurality of such fiber resolving devices, and supporting means for pivotably supporting said housing for swinging said housing about said drive shaft means.

5. The machine defined in claim 4, in which said housing supporting means includes bushing means substantially concentric with said drive shaft means, bracket means for supporting said bushing means independently of said housing, a substantially U-shaped collar carried by said housing for embracing said bushing means, and cover plate means swingable between a first position connecting the free ends of said U-shaped collar for closing the collar and thereby carrying said housing on said bushing means and a second position for opening said collar to permit removal of said housing from said bushing means by movement of said collar radially of said bushing.

6. The machine defined in claim 1, and a dirt collection chamber in said housing communicable with said fiber resolving device, a closure member for interrupting communication between said fiber resolving device and said collection chamber, lever means connected to said closure member, and cam means engageable to swing said lever means for swinging said closure member.

7. An open end spinning machine having a spinning station including a spinning chamber, comprising a sliver intake device having a supply roller and a cooperating pressure member, a fiber resolving device, a housing for mounting said pressure member and said fiber resolving device, means for mounting said supply roller independently of said housing, and means for relatively swinging said supply roller and said housing toward and away from each other. 

1. An open end spinning machine having a spinning station including a spinning chamber, comprising a sliver intake device having a supply roller and a cooperating pressure Member, means mounting said supply roller in a fixed position, a fiber resolving device, a housing for mounting said pressure member and said fiber resolving device, and means for moving said housing toward and away from said supply roller.
 2. The machine defined in claim 1 having a plurality of spinning stations, in which each spinning station includes a supply roller, the supply roller mounting means being a shaft carrying a plurality of such supply rollers.
 3. The machine defined in claim 2, in which each spinning station further includes a dirt collecting chamber communicable with said fiber resolving device, closure means for interrupting communication between said fiber resolving device and said dirt collection chamber, the housing for the fiber resolving device also housing the dirt collecting chamber and the closure member, cam means for actuating said closure means, a drive shaft extending through all of the spinning stations for driving said fiber resolving device, and a cam shaft extending through all of the spinning stations for driving said cam means, the housing being movable relative to the supply roller drive shaft, said fiber resolving device drive shaft and said cam shaft.
 4. The machine defined in claim 1 having a plurality of spinning stations, each spinning station including a housing for mounting said fiber resolving device and said pressure member, drive shaft means operable to drive a plurality of such fiber resolving devices, and supporting means for pivotably supporting said housing for swinging said housing about said drive shaft means.
 5. The machine defined in claim 4, in which said housing supporting means includes bushing means substantially concentric with said drive shaft means, bracket means for supporting said bushing means independently of said housing, a substantially U-shaped collar carried by said housing for embracing said bushing means, and cover plate means swingable between a first position connecting the free ends of said U-shaped collar for closing the collar and thereby carrying said housing on said bushing means and a second position for opening said collar to permit removal of said housing from said bushing means by movement of said collar radially of said bushing.
 6. The machine defined in claim 1, and a dirt collection chamber in said housing communicable with said fiber resolving device, a closure member for interrupting communication between said fiber resolving device and said collection chamber, lever means connected to said closure member, and cam means engageable to swing said lever means for swinging said closure member.
 7. An open end spinning machine having a spinning station including a spinning chamber, comprising a sliver intake device having a supply roller and a cooperating pressure member, a fiber resolving device, a housing for mounting said pressure member and said fiber resolving device, means for mounting said supply roller independently of said housing, and means for relatively swinging said supply roller and said housing toward and away from each other. 